Kurdistan Region national football team

The Kurdistan national football team (Kurdish: هەڵبژاردەی نیشتمانی تۆپی پێی کوردستان romanized : jêgrtîya welatî ya tepapê ya Kurdistan ê) is the national team of the Kurdistan Region. They are not affiliated with FIFA or Asian Football Confederation (AFC).

The Kurdistan National Football after winning the 2012 Viva World Cup

Kurdistan

Nickname(s)	The Tricolour
Association	Kurdistan Football Association
Confederation	ConIFA
Head coach	Khasraw Groon
Most caps	Heydar Gharaman
Home stadium	Franso Hariri Stadium Zakho International Stadium
First colours Second colours
First international
Kurdistan Region 2–2 Sápmi  (Gällivare, Sweden; 7 July 2008)
Biggest win
Tamil Eelam 0–9 Kurdistan Region  (Östersund, Sweden; 1 June 2014)
Biggest defeat
Chameria 6–0 Kurdistan Region  (The Hague, Netherlands; 17 June 2017)
VIVA World Cup
Appearances	3 (first in 2008)
Best result	Champions, 2012

History

Although Kurdistan is not a member of FIFA or the AFC, Kurdistan has participated various international football tournaments.

The Iraq Football Association (IFA) attended a meeting held by the N.F.-Board in June 2006.^[1] In December 2008, during the 5th General Meeting, Kurdistan was granted full membership to the N.F.-Board and their tournaments.^{[citation needed]} The team played in the 2008 VIVA World Cup for the first time, finishing in the fourth place after a 3–1 loss to Sápmi.^{[citation needed]} Their first and only win in the 2008 tournament came against Provence.^{[citation needed]}

In 2011 the Kurdish team took part the Palestine International Cup and defeated Mauritania and Tunisia U22.^[2] Kurdistan eventually became champions on home turf in the 2012 Viva World Cup, defeating Northern Cyprus 2–1 in front of 22,000 fans.^{[citation needed]}

On 9 September 2024, it was announced that Kurdistan had been suspended by CONIFA.^[3]

Official Kurdistan FA Emblem

The Kurdistan Region FA emblem was designed by Kurdish artist Rawand Sirwan Nawroly (Kurdish: ره‌وه‌ند سیروان نه‌ورڕۆڵی).^{[citation needed]} The emblem represents the Kurdish flag colours, where the red represents the Kurdish Newroz fire.^{[citation needed]} The yellow ball represents the Kurdish Sun and the green banner represents the green Kurdistan scenery.^{[citation needed]}

Competitive record

Year	Position	GP	W	D	L	GS	GA
VIVA World Cup
2006	did not enter
2008	4th	5	1	2	2	7	7
2009	2nd	4	2	0	2	11	4
2010	2nd	4	3	0	1	9	5
2012	1st	4	4	0	0	11	2
Palestine International Cup
2012	3rd	3	1	1	1	5	4
International Tournament of Peoples, Cultures and Tribes
2013	1st	4	3	1	0	9	1
ConIFA World Football Cup
2014	6th	5	1	3	1	14	6
2016	8th	5	2	3	0	9	3
2018	did not enter
2020	Canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2024	Qualified as hosts
Total	Best: 1st	33	18	8	7	73	28

World Cup History
Year	Round	Score	Result
VIVA World Cup
2008	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 2–2  Sápmi	Draw
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 3–0  Provence	Win
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 1–2  Padania	Lose
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 0–0  Arameans Suryoye	Draw
	3rd Place	Kurdistan Region 1–3  Sápmi	Lose
2009	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 4–0  Occitania	Win
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 1–2  Padania	Lose
	Semi-Final	Kurdistan Region 6–0  Provence	Win
	Final	Kurdistan Region 0–2  Padania	Lose
2010	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 4–1  Two Sicilies	Win
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 3–2  Provence	Win
	Semi-Final	Kurdistan Region 2–1  Occitania	Win
	Final	Kurdistan Region 0–1  Padania	Lose
2012
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 6–0  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	Win
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 1–0  Occitania	Win
	Semi-Final	Kurdistan Region 2–1  Provence	Win
	Final	Kurdistan Region 2–1  Northern Cyprus	Win
ConIFA World Football Cup
2014	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 1–2  Arameans Suryoye	Lose
	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 9–0  Tamil Eelam	Win
	Quarter-finals	Kurdistan Region 1 (2) – (4) 1  Ellan Vannin	Draw
	Placement Round 1	Kurdistan Region 2 (5) – (4) 2  Occitania	Draw
	Placement Round 2	Kurdistan Region 1 (3) – (4) 1  Padania	Draw
2016	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 3–0  Székely Land	Win
	Round 2	Kurdistan Region 3–0  United Koreans in Japan	Win
	Quarter-finals	Kurdistan Region 2 (6) – (7) 2  Padania	Draw
	Placement Round 1	Kurdistan Region 0 (5) – (6) 0  Western Armenia	Draw
	Placement Round 2	Kurdistan Region 1 (2) – (4) 1  United Koreans in Japan	Draw

Others tournaments
Year	Round	Score	Result
Palestine International Cup
2012	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 3–1  Mauritania	Win
	Round 2	Kurdistan Region 1–1  Indonesia	Draw
	Round 3	Kurdistan Region 1–2  Tunisia	Lose
International Tournament of Peoples, Cultures and Tribes
2013	Round 1	Kurdistan Region 1–1 UGA Ardeiv	Draw
	Round 2	Kurdistan Region 6–0  Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic	Win
	Semi final	Kurdistan Region 1–0  Quebec	Win
	Final	Kurdistan Region 1–0  Provence	Win

Current squad

As 2016:

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	Sarhang Muhsin	29	22	0	Al-Shorta
12	1GK	Znar Faizi		0	0	Duhok
22	1GK	Rebaz Abdulla	21	0	0	Erbil
2	2DF	Bayar Abubakir		5	0	Duhok
3	2DF	Herdi Siamand	33	11	1	Erbil
20	2DF	Jassim Mohammed Haji	32	10	1	Zakho
13	2DF	Aras Mustafa	28	1	0	Zeravani
4	2DF	Hawkar Latif	26	0	0	Nawroz
8	2DF	Khalid Mushir	35	12	2	Zakho
5	2DF	Kamaran Ali	27	3	0	Zakho
21	2DF	Niaz Muhamad	26	5	0	Erbil
14	3MF	Hawre Jalal	26	3	5	Peshmargay Hawler
15	3MF	Muhamad Sabir		1	0	Erbil
19	3MF	Diyar Rahman	30	5	1	Erbil
10	3MF	Ali Aziz	27	10	4	Ararat
16	3MF	Ahmet Isik	19	12	19	Arminia Tegel
6	3MF	Abdulla Kaifi	24	0	0	Kirkuk
11	3MF	Kosrat Baiz	25	5	2	Erbil
9	3MF	Rekar Hashim	23	1	0	Erbil
17	4FW	Hunar Ahmad		4	2	Zeravani
18	4FW	Ayub Ayad	31	1	0	Zeravani
7	4FW	Farhang Wriya		2	1	Peshmargay Hawler

Managers

Manager	Period	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Win %
Abdullah Mahmoud	2008–2016	29	15	7	7	51.72
Khasraw Groon	2016–present	11	6	4	1	54.54
Totals		40	21	11	8	52.50

Honours

Non-FIFA competitions

• Viva World Cup
  • Champions (1): 2012
  • Runners-up (2): 2009, 2010